Monkey Business. Folly, moral code or satire on the pictorial tradition? Apes in human activities by Peeter van der Borcht (1535/45-1601)

Abstract

At the end of the sixteenth century a collection of prints of monkeys in human activities by Flemish engraver Peeter van der Borcht was published. Although the prints seem a consecutive series at first sight, the cohesion is questionable. Should the prints be interpreted as folly, moral code or a satire on the pictorial tradition? In this paper the collection will be studied mainly by looking at the pictorial tradition of monkeys in art and comparisons between the prints and Bruegel's genre works.